Archive for the ‘Children's Health’ Category

Childhood obesity

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 6.5% in 1980 to 17.0% in 2007. The rate among adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.6%.1 Obesity is the result of caloric imbalance (too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed) and is mediated by genetics and health.2 An estimated 61% of obese young people have at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure.3 In addition, children who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.2,4 Obese young people are more likely than children of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.4 Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases.
Childhood obesity Source
Causes of Childhood Obesity,As with adult-onset obesity, childhood obesity has multiple causes centering around an imbalance between energy in (calories obtained from food) and energy out (calories expended in the basal metabolic rate and physical activity). Childhood obesity most likely results from an interaction of nutritional, psychological, familial, and physiological factors.The Family,The risk of becoming obese is greatest among children who have two obese parents (Dietz, 1983). This may be due to powerful genetic factors or to parental modeling of both eating and exercise behaviors, indirectly affecting the child’’s energy balance. One half of parents of elementary school children never exercise vigorously.Low-energy Expenditure ,The average American child spends several hours each day watching television; time which in previous years might have been devoted to physical pursuits. Obesity is greater among children and adolescents who frequently watch television (Dietz & Gortmaker, 1985), not only because little energy is expended while viewing but also because of concurrent consumption of high-calorie snacks. Only about one-third of elementary children have daily physical education, and fewer than one-fifth have extracurricular physical activity programs at their schools.
Since not all children who eat non-nutritious foods, watch several hours of television daily, and are relatively inactive develop obesity, the search continues for alternative causes. Heredity has recently been shown to influence fatness, regional fat distribution, and response to overfeeding (Bouchard et al., 1990). In addition, infants born to overweight mothers have been found to be less active and to gain more weight by age three months when compared with infants of normal weight mothers, suggesting a possible inborn drive to conserve energy.
Treatment of Childhood Obesity
Obesity treatment programs for children and adolescents rarely have weight loss as a goal. Rather, the aim is to slow or halt weight gain so the child will grow into his or her body weight over a period of months to years. Dietz (1983) estimates that for every 20 percent excess of ideal body weight, the child will need one and one-half years of weight maintenance to attain ideal body weight.Early and appropriate intervention is particularly valuable. There is considerable evidence that childhood eating and exercise habits are more easily modified than adult habits (Wolf, Cohen, Rosenfeld, 1985).
Three forms of intervention include:1. Physical Activity.Adopting a formal exercise program, or simply becoming more active, is valuable to burn fat, increase energy expenditure, and maintain lost weight. Most studies of children have not shown exercise to be a successful strategy for weight loss unless coupled with another intervention, such as nutrition education or behavior modification (Wolf et al., 1985). However, exercise has additional health benefits. Even when children’’s body weight and fatness did not change following 50 minutes of aerobic exercise three times per week, blood lipid profiles and blood pressure did improve (Becque, Katch, Rocchini, Marks, & Moorehead, 1988).2. Diet Management.Fasting or extreme caloric restriction is not advisable for children. Not only is this approach psychologically stressful, but it may adversely affect growth and the child’’s perception of “normal” eating. Balanced diets with moderate caloric restriction, especially reduced dietary fat, have been used successfully in treating obesity (Dietz, 1983). Nutrition education may be necessary. Diet management coupled with exercise is an effective treatment for childhood obesity (Wolf et al., 1985).
3. Behavior Modification,Many behavioral strategies used with adults have been successfully applied to children and adolescents: self-monitoring and recording food intake and physical activity, slowing the rate of eating, limiting the time and place of eating, and using rewards and incentives for desirable behaviors. Particularly effective are behaviorally based treatments that include parents (Epstein et al., 1987). Graves, Meyers, and Clark (1988) used problem-solving exercises in a parent-child behavioral program and found children in the problem-solving group, but not those in the behavioral treatment-only group, significantly reduced percent overweight and maintained reduced weight for six months. Problem-solving training involved identifying possible weight-control problems and, as a group, discussing solutions.
Prevention of Childhood Obesity
Obesity is easier to prevent than to treat, and prevention focuses in large measure on parent education. In infancy, parent education should center on promotion of breastfeeding, recognition of signals of satiety, and delayed introduction of solid foods. In early childhood, education should include proper nutrition, selection of low-fat snacks, good exercise/activity habits, and monitoring of television viewing. In cases where preventive measures cannot totally overcome the influence of hereditary factors, parent education should focus on building self-esteem and address psychological issues.Easy Ways to Prevent Overeating,These tips will help you feel fuller longer and curb cravings. Give them a try, and you could prevent overeating before you have even had the chance to say, “I couldn”t eat another bite”!Don’t skimp during the day to “save” calories for later on in the evening. No matter how “in control” you feel during the day, you”re likely to become overly hungry by evening, which is a sure-fire way to give in to overeating. And above all, don”t skip any meals to reserve calories for another; it almost always backfires.Eat breakfast every morning. Doing so keeps your blood sugar stable — which helps keep cravings at bay — and energy levels high (we tend to eat more when feeling sluggish). In fact, studies have shown that people who eat breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight than those of us who skip it.Drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well as eating water-rich fruits such as melon or oranges will help you feel sated throughout the day. Additionally, thirst is easily confused with hunger so staying well-hydrated may prevent you from eating when you”re not actually feeling true hunger.

Get enough sleep. Without even realizing it, we tend to eat more when we”re tired; it’’s a way to “perk” ourselves up. While eating something high in carbs will give you a burst of energy, it will soon fade away. Feeling well-rested may help keep that “afternoon slump” at bay (and you away from the vending machine).Eat on a regular schedule. Eating regularly will keep you from getting too hungry to stay in control of what — and how much — you eat. You should never go longer than five hours without eating; ideally, you should have something every three hours or so. This can be accomplished by incorporating healthful snacks into your day or by eating several mini-meals instead of three large ones.More Weight Loss Quick Tips.

Why Kids Won’t Try New Foods?

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Getting your kids to try a new food can be such a major event sometimes. Of course as adults, moms and dads get frustrated. Why should trying one little bite of foreign food become such an ordeal?
  Dr. Lucy J. Cooke of University College London may just have the answer to that question. The doctor and her researchers learned that almost 80% of kids inherit that fear of food from their parents. This fear of food is called food neophobia’ and unfortunately many young food neophobics avoid healthy foods like vegetables, preferring the safety of less-healthy but more familiar foods.So does this mean you might as well give up your dreams of parenting a child who loves sushi and salads instead of burgers and fries? No. Not at all. Kids will try foods when they feel comfortable with them. They may need to be exposed to a new food several times before they even take one little nibble.
  Be patient, offer the new foods several times along side other foods your children already like. In time, they will learn that vegetables, and other healthy foods, really are quite edible.

Children’’s Calcium Requirements

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

How much calcium do your kids need?It depends on how old they are, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children who are: 
   (1) 1-3 years old get 500mg per day (about 2 servings of milk)
   (2)4-8 years old get 800mg per day (about 3 servings of milk)
   (3)9-18 years old get 1300mg per day (about 4 servings of milk)
   Unfortunately, most children, especially teens, get much less than their recommended daily requirements for calcium. This makes it important to think about calcium as you plan your children’’s diet.
   Foods With Calcium\nMilk is the food that is most often associated as being high in calcium. It is important to note that there are plenty of other foods that are good sources of calcium though, including other dairy products, many vegetables, calcium fortified orange juice, and other calcium fortified foods.
   Foods that are good sources of calcium can include:
   low fat plain yogurt: 300-450mg per serving (1 cup)
   American cheese: 350mg per serving
   cow’’s milk (either whole milk or low fat milk): 300mg per serving (1 cup)
   calcium fortified soy milk, rice milk, or goat’’s milk: 300mg per serving (1 cup)
   calcium fortified orange juice: 300mg per serving (1 cup)
   cheddar cheese: 300mg per serving (1.5 oz)
   cooked dried white beans: 161mg per serving (1 oz)
   dried figs: 169mg per serving (10 figs)
   spinach: 120mg per serving (1 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked)
   soft serve ice cream: 118mg per serving (1/2 cup)
   oranges: 50mg per serving (1 medium orange)
   instant oatmeal: 100mg (1 packet)
   sweet potatoes: 44mg per serving (1/2 cup mashed)
   broccoli: 35mg per serving (1 1/2 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked)
   Dark green, leafy vegetables, tofu, lentils, sardines, and salmon, are also good sources of calcium, which in addition to soy milk and orange juice, are good sources of calcium for kids with a milk allergy.
   Foods or meals that are prepared with the above foods, such as pizza, a grilled cheese sandwich, lasagna, or a burrito with beans and cheese, are also good ways to get enough calcium.
   Keep in mind that the amount of calcium in many prepared foods can vary depending on which brand you buy. For example, one type of cheese might have only 5% of your child’’s daily allowance of calcium (about 50mg), while another might have 30% or 300mg. Reading food labels and being on the lookout for foods that have at least 20-30% calcium can help to make sure that your kids are getting enough calcium.
   And remember that kids over age 9 years need 1300mg of calcium, which is above the 1000mg or 100% daily value that is listed on food labels. So while you can still add up the % Daily Value of calcium for each food your kids eat to see if they are getting enough, make sure it adds up to 130% for older kids.
   Calcium Fortified Foods,Many other foods, including bread and cereal, may also be fortified with calcium, and can help boost your child’’s daily intake of calcium. Check the nutrition facts label to find those brands that are fortified with calcium.Claims on the package itself, for example that the food is ‘high in calcium,’rich in calcium,’ or an’excellent source of calcium,can also help you find foods that are high in calcium, with 20% of more of the calcium DV. On the other hand, a food that is just a ‘good source of calcium’is going to have just 10% to 19% of the calcium DV.
   Calcium Supplements’It can be hard to get kids enough calcium if they don’t like milk, yogurt, and orange juice. Making things even more difficult is the fact that these types of picky eaters are also unlikely to want to eat other foods that are good sources of calcium, such as spinach and broccoli.You may think that you can make up for your kids not getting enough calcium in their diet by giving them a vitamin, but the average vitamin has very little calcium in it. For example, a Flintstones Complete multivitamin only has 100mg of calcium in it. Even the Flintstones Plus Calcium vitamin only has 200mg of calcium in it, which is less than even a single glass of milk.
   You may have to ask your Pediatrician if your older child can take Tums or a calcium chew vitamin, like Viactiv, if your kids aren”t getting much calcium from other sources. At 500mg each, these supplements make it easy to make sure your kids are getting enough calcium.
   If your kids do drink some milk, consider adding a packet of Nestle Carnation Instant Breakfast mix to boost the calcium content of a glass of milk by another 250mg. If your kids drink it with a grilled cheese sandwich made with bread and cheese that are ‘high in calcium,’ then they may get up to 900mg of calcium in one meal!